The latest issue of the Lancet (Volume 373, Issue 9657, Page 2, 3 January 2009 ) gives a close look at America’s commitment to global health.

“Over the past decade, the US Government has spent record amounts on global health: in 2008 spending peaked at US$7·5 billion. Still, the share of the country’s gross national income allocated to development aid is only about one-third of the target set by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. More than 70% of this money is aimed at AIDS programmes, even though chronic and non-communicable diseases account for more than half of all deaths in low-income and middle-income countries …”